12:16
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 2
At 40:30, Nadal moves up in his service game after a forehand slice by the Russian that was too short and plays the winner with the forehand inside-in to take a 2-0 lead.
12:14
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 1
The 20-time Grand Slam winner misses the break opportunity, but has the next chance a little later. Thanks to a backhand mistake by Khachanov, the Spaniard is now on the spot and, with the break to make it 1-0, he creates what he thinks is the optimal start in the second set!
12:09 p.m
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
A little later, Khachanov also misses the next game ball. In the subsequent rally, the 30th in the world rankings goes to the net, but is then forced by Nadal to do a deep forehand volley, which he puts longline into the net. Breakball for the Spaniard!
12:06
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
That’s bitter for Khachanov – with a double fault he can’t use the next ball either!
12:05
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
A great backhand longline winner down the line earns the Russian the next cue ball.
12:05
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
The Russian is now on the pressure in his service game, but misses his fourth game ball in this service game with a forehand that is too long!
12:03
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
Khachanov can still extend this service game! Nadal awarded both breakballs with the forehand – 40:40.
12:01
Khachanov – Nadal 3: 6, 0: 0
Can the Spaniard make the early break again? In game one of the second round, Khachanov faces two break points when he serves at 15:40!
11:59
sentence conclusion
Rafael Nadal wins the first set in a duel with Karen Khachanov 6: 3. The Spaniard got off to an optimal start in the game by breaking the Russians early to make it 2-0 ahead and didn’t let anything burn on his own serve. Khachanov was able to improve his service games significantly afterwards, but when the Spaniard served, the Russian only got one point in the whole set. As a result, the Spaniard quickly and clearly wins the first round 6:3.
11:55
Khachanov 3-6 Nadal
The Russian makes the mistake of the Spaniard’s first set ball with the forehand – Nadal wins the first round 6: 3!
11:54
Khachanov 3-5 Nadal
The Russian scores his first point on Nadal’s serve, but then the number five in the world takes over again, who now has his first set point at 40:15!
11:53
Khachanov 3-5 Nadal
Khachanov makes it 3:5 without losing a point. Now the Russian has to break the Spaniard if he wants to keep his chance of winning the first set.
11:51
Khachanov 2-5 Nadal
In his return games, Nadal takes risks early on in the rallies. It doesn’t work so well this time – the Russian has three balls at 40:0.
11:49
Khachanov 2-5 Nadal
Nadal also wins the following two points, bagging his fourth service game to zero as well.
11:48
Khachanov 2-4 Nadal
In a longer rally, Khachanov, standing a few meters in the field, tries out the longline ball from the forehand corner. This flies into the double field. 30:0 for the Spaniard.
11:46
Khachanov 2-4 Nadal
Nadal makes an easier mistake with the forehand, allowing Khachanov to win the game to 30.
11:45
Khachanov 1-4 Nadal
At least with his own serve, Khachanov’s game now works. With an ace he takes a 40:15 lead.
11:42
Khachanov 1-4 Nadal
Nadal used the first game ball with a forehand winner for a 4-1 lead. The Spaniard has not lost a single point in his service games.
11:40 a.m
Khachanov 1-3 Nadal
Nadal has played outstandingly on his own serve and is already leading 40-0 again.
11:39
Khachanov 1-3 Nadal
Khachanov leads 40:15, then Nadal makes the mistake with the forehand. The Russian shortened to 1:3.
11:37
Khachanov 0-3 Nadal
But now the Russian could win his first game. After an ace at 30:0 to the outside, Khachanov has three balls.
11:34
Khachanov 0-3 Nadal
So far, Nadal has been in a hurry. The Spaniard also won his second service game without dropping a point and pulled away to 3-0. After winning points, Nadal leads 12:1 after three games!
11:32
Khachanov 0-2 Nadal
Nadal got the early break! At 15:40 from the point of view of the serving Russian, he has to accept another winner from his opponent, this time Nadal succeeds with his backhand. The Spaniard makes it 2-0.
11:30
Khachanov 0-1 Nadal
And the Spaniard finds his way around in his first return game. After a winning stroke with the forehand, the 20-time Grand Slam winner has three break points!
11:28
Khachanov 0-1 Nadal
The Spaniard gets the match off to a perfect start, winning his first service game using strong serves to keep clean.
11:26
Khachanov 0-0 Nadal
Here we go, Nadal serves in game one of the first set.
11:13
head to head
The record of previous duels speaks clearly for Rafael Nadal. Karen Khachanov and Rafael Nadal have played seven matches against each other so far – the Spaniard has won seven times. The last meeting was at the Davis Cup Finals in 2019.
11:06
Match start is approaching
Ashleigh Barty defeated Camila Giorgi in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena. Karen Khachanov and Rafael Nadal should soon arrive there.
10:58
Sovereign first two rounds
Rafael Nadal found his way into this year’s Melbourne Grand Slam tournament very well and survived the first two rounds without losing a set. At the start, the Spaniard won against the American Marcos Giron 6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 2. In the second round, the number five in the world won 6:2, 6:3, 6:2 against the German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.
10:55
Khachanov’s way in round three
At the start of the tournament, Karen Khachanov had to deal with the American Denis Kudla, whom the Russian defeated 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 2) after a set deficit of 0: 1 . In the second round, the 30th in the world rankings met Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi. Karen Khachanov paved the way in round three with a 6:4, 6:0, 7:5 win.
10:49
Title win twelve days ago
After an injury break of around five months, Rafael Nadal returned to the tour in early January. The 35-year-old Spaniard took part in the ATP 250 tournament Melbourne Summer Set, where he was by far the top seed. The Mallorquin made a comeback by reaching the final, where he won the title with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 win over qualifier Maxime Cressy.
10:47
Tournament participation in Adelaide
Karen Khachanov played the two ATP 250 tournaments in Adelaide before the Australian Open. While the Russian advanced to the final in the first competition on Australia’s south coast, where he was beaten in two sets by Gaël Monfils, Karen Khachanov failed in the second tournament in the quarterfinals to Arthur Rinderknech.
09:53
Third round of the Australian Open
Happy Friday morning and a warm welcome to the third round of the Australian Open. Karen Khachanov, current world No. 30, meets 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. The match takes place in the Rod Laver Arena after the game between Ashleigh Barty and Camila Giorgi which is about to begin.